Albanian political parties trade acccustions over U.S narcotics report

Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-31 02:51:45|Editor: yan
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TIRANA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Albanian ruling and opposition parties traded acccustions following the publication of the 2018 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report by the U.S., which analyzed the situation in Albania as well.

The Albanian opposition -- Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) and Democratic Party (DP) -- reacted by raising accusation against the ruling Socialist government.

The U.S. report alleged that the Albanian government had not made significant progress in 2018 in terms of money laundering.

According to the report, Albania is a vulnerable country in terms of money laundering, as a result of corruption, organized crime and weak government institutions. The cash economy is considered to be a problem for the country.

According to the report, Albania's efforts to reform the judicial system are being undermined by corruption. The report also noted the Albanian government's decision to outlaw gambling is aimed at tackling money laundering.

On Saturday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused the opposition for using the report for defamation and in an abusive way.

"The politicians and media have misused and abused this report as everything else to drag the public in the sludge of their words," Rama said.

The acting minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Gent Cakaj said the report "encourages the reforms that the government has undertaken".

"The report underlines the steady cooperation between Albania and the U.S. and emphasizes the fact that Albania has achieved substantial results against the fight against organized crime and drug cultivation," Cakaj said.

Cakaj noted that the report also witnessed an increase in cases of cocaine seizures passing through Albania.

According to Cakaj, the U.S. report said that in Albania there is increasing cross-border security and positive drug capture performance.

But the head of the Parliamentary Group of SMI, Petrit Vasili, said that both Rama and Cakaj see imaginary successes in the report. The U.S. report was clearly stating that corruption is spread everywhere, he said.

The DP leader Lulzim Basha said that, according to the U.S. report, Albania is considered a transit country for drugs.

"Under Rama's leadership, Albania has been turned into an operational criminal base, from a security-exporting base 10 years ago, when we joined the NATO," Basha said.

Basha blamed the government for such situation, saying that the report was yet another proof that the cause of opposition's protests was right.

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